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Abstract

The City of Tacoma has policies that both encourage the densification of neighborhoods through a broadened range of residential infill options and also protect the character of single-family housing patterns. However, recent residential development has illustrated the difficulty of achieving goals of compatibility and density simultaneously. How can development incorporate better design standards and placemaking practices that respond to a neighborhood’s unique character, while diversifying the housing stock to provide a greater variety of housing options?

Relating to the city’s anticipated population growth, as well as regional environmental and economic pressures, this report frames the discussion, analysis and recommendations around two key objectives: increasing access to "missing middle" housing, and promoting context-sensitive development.

This report covers an introduction to the project’s objectives and methodology, an overview of existing conditions, a study of urban form pattern areas, takeaways from community engagement efforts and final recommendations.

The information from this report helps establish a framework for guiding residential infill development in a manner that is sensitive to both neighborhood design and the diversifying needs of Tacoma’s current and future residents. The study of pattern areas is a tool that provides an analytical framework for guiding future work towards the incorporation of place-based needs and desires informed by the community. Recommendations identify actions that are both city-wide as well as pattern-specific, making a statement about the direction of growth and residential development as a means to frame the opportunities that exist in Tacoma.

This project was conducted under the supervision of Sy Adler, Marisa Zapata, Lisa Bates and Susan Hartnett